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Naked photos, ‘raunchy’ humour cited in U.S. navy probe of ex-leader of Blue Angels flying team

In this Sept. 10, 2011 file photo provided by the U.S. navy, Capt. Greg McWherter, commanding officer and flight leader of the Blue Angels, responds to the crowd at the Guardians of Freedom Air Show in Lincoln, Neb. The U.S. Navy says McWherter has been relieved of duty over misconduct while he was commanding officer of the Blue Angels. McWherter allegedly allowed and in some cases encouraged sexually explicit humour and lewd speech among the famed precision flying team.Photo: AP Photo/U.S. Navy, Jen Blake, File

SAN DIEGO — A former Blue Angels commander tolerated inappropriate sexual comments and pornographic images in the workplace — including photos of naked women in the cockpits of the precision flying team’s planes, the U.S. navy said Tuesday.

Capt. Gregory McWherter was found guilty of violating two articles under the military’s code of justice during nonjudicial proceedings convened Monday in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The articles were failure to obey an order or regulation and conduct unbecoming of an officer by fostering a hostile command climate and failing to stop “obvious and repeated instances of sexual harassment, condoning widespread lewd practices within the squadron and engaging in inappropriate and unprofessional discussions with his junior officers,” the navy said in a statement.

He will be given a letter of reprimand that will go in McWherter’s permanent file and is seen as a career-0604 in the service. McWherter told officials he did not wish to speak to the media, said Cmdr. Kevin Stephens.

Under McWherter’s command, pilots had explicit pornography, including photos of naked women, in aircraft cockpits, according to the investigation.

There was also a rooftop painting of male genitalia in blue and gold at the team’s winter training facilities in El Centro that could be seen by Google Maps, the navy report said. The painting existed through the end of the 2012 air show season.

The Navy probe also found “sexually charged, raunchy, and homophobic humour” on maps and itineraries.

McWherter was relieved in April from his duty as executive officer of Naval Base Coronado in California amid the allegations during his second stint as the Blue Angels leader from May 2011 to November 2012. The Navy said it did not find problems during his first stint as the flying team’s commanding officer from 2008 to 2010.

“The investigation concluded that McWherter witnessed, condoned, and encouraged behaviour that, while juvenile and sophomoric in the beginning, ultimately and in the aggregate, became destructive, toxic and hostile,” the navy said.

The navy said investigators found no evidence the behaviour led to sexual assault.

Harry Harris Jr., commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, ordered the investigation after a service member filed an official complaint on March 24.

The Blue Angels’ mission is to publicly represent the best of Naval Aviation, and Harris said “the actions of Capt. McWherter jeopardized that mission.”

“Commanding officers have an enduring obligation to maintain a proper work environment at all times and in all places and spaces, and they will be held accountable as appropriate when they fail,” Harris said.

Several junior personnel who served under McWherter received formal written counselling for their behaviour, but McWherter was held accountable for the actions of those in his command, the navy said.